By Chioma Iruke
The United Nations (UN) has warned the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government on the dangers of attack on schools and abduction of students, stating that it would have diverse effect on the country’s future.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, who condemned the incessant attacks on schools, said kidnappings have affected hundreds of children in a number of states in the country, even as he raised the alarm that education was under attack in Nigeria.
He said this in a statement on the 2021 International Day to Protect Education from Attack, commemorated every September 9.
The statement, was titled, “UN condemns attack on schools, calls for more efforts to protect students and ensure uninterrupted teaching and learning”.
Kallon noted that attacks on schools are “a direct attack on the future generation”, adding that “it is traumatic for the children, undermines their individual dignity, and sometimes leads affected families to withdraw them from education entirely”.
“I strongly condemn every form of attack that has kept many children away from schools. I call on the Federal and State Governments to do more to protect schools from attack and to ensure that teaching and learning is safe and conducive in all schools in Nigeria,” he added.
The Resident Coordinator noted that “whenever teaching and learning is disrupted, the impact on human capital development is enormous as the recovery period is always tortuous and longer than the length of the initial disruption.”
According to him, Nigeria cannot afford to leave the situation of incessant attacks on schools to remain unabated
